


Second Chance

by DinRedfire



Category: Eternal Arcadia | Skies of Arcadia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor/Patient, French Kissing, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Ramirez mentionned, Rare Pairings, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 06:19:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16759627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DinRedfire/pseuds/DinRedfire
Summary: Alfonso owes his life to Doc. Will the past remain to it's rightful place and allow both him and Doc to move on?





	Second Chance

Rains

It was so dark around him, he thought his eyes were closed but the pain from the gravel falling on him made him realize they were in fact open. Tearing up, he tried to move but his legs were stuck. Alfonso had barely been Lord Admiral for a day before the Rains of Destruction impeached him. Was it divine retribution? He let out a joyless laugh but it was cut off by a flash of pain. His whole body was aching, and he couldn’t move. The debris were in a precarious arrangement over him – any wrong move or another wave of falling moonstones, and they would crush him. That is, if he didn’t suffocate first. The air was lacking and his panicked breathing didn’t help it.

“Someone... Someone help me!” He wheezed, his voice pathetically weak.

There was no sound around him. No signs of movements. Were there any survivors? Surely there would be someone to check up on the castle soon. They had to. They had to. Having managed to free one of his arms, he tried to rub at his eyes but pain shot through it. Broken.

His eyes were burning, his body was cold. He had lost entirely the track of time. He was feeling light-headed. He had long since stopped calling for help. No one would come. The great admiral Alfonso would meet his end alone and buried alive. He didn’t even have the energy left to cry.

* * *

“Uncle Doc”

“What is it, Maria?”

He jumped at hearing her voice, still unused to it. She had insisted on accompanying him to Valua to help the survivors. Being a doctor, he would be needed in these times.

And despite everything, he thought bitterly, he was still Valuan. The young girl pointed toward the debris that once were the imperial palace.

“Did you see someone in need of help there?”

She nodded wordlessly, her gaze fixed on the rubble. He didn’t know how she did it, but Maria had an incredible instinct. The little girl seemed able to notice things he didn’t. And she was never wrong. He jogged toward the ruins, moving aside whatever he could lift. Maria tried to help as well even if she could only lift small rocks.

Eventually he saw him.

“Maria... Can you wait for me over there?”

She stepped away and obeyed. Doc was silently thankful. Maria had endured enough despite her young age, he didn’t want her to see what could be a corpse. He still kept going,  unearthing the man. Even if he were dead, he didn’t deserve to just rot there.

“...Uuugh...”

Doc froze.

He resumed his movement, more frantic.

“Hey! Can you hear me?! Hold on!”

The man was alive. He was in terrible shape and who knew how long he had been buried there but he was still breathing. Doc was not going to let that man die on his watch.

Alfonso felt a weight being lifted off his chest. He felt the air rushing in. It was painful but he did his best to regulate his breathing. He was still alive? The pain coming back to him was proof enough of it.

Slowly he opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of the stranger he owed his life to. He tried to raise but the stranger firmly kept him on his back with a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t move. You have quite a few broken ribs”

He opened his mouth to speak. It felt dry and his voice came out coarse as a result.

“...Y-You...”

In truth, Alfonso didn’t know what he wanted to say. He felt overwhelmed. Pain, fear, relief, worry. He felt his eyes welling up.

“H-Hey...”

The man looked at him with an uncomfortable expression, trying to avoid his gaze before settling to gripping gently his shoulder.

“You’ll be okay... You’re safe.”

Alfonso closed his eyes, trying not to shake too much as his tears ran in streams.

* * *

Something in the patient’s eyes made Doc feel uncomfortable. He had expected the man to be in quite the emotional turmoil, but seeing him brought back memories. The man looked at him in a mix of curiosity and fear. As if he wondered if he would hurt him as easily as he had treated him. ...It reminded Doc of  _him._

The patient was sleeping, his bandaged chest slowly raising and falling. He looked underweight and severely battered up, but he was no doubt a Valuan noble.  Doc had known his fair share of rotten Valuans and he thought he never would have returned to his homeland. 

“...I’m... I’m...”

“Hm?”

Doc glanced back at the man again thinking he had woken up.

“...Oh, sleep-talking, huh?” the doctor muttered.

“I’m sorry...”

“...What?”

“...I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...”

The patient was apologizing in a broken voice, over and over again.  Doc squirmed, frantically wondering what the hell he was supposed to do. The man was obviously having a nightmare. As he finally got out of his stupor and moved to wake him up, the man jolted awake by himself, wincing in pain.

“H-Hey easy now!”

Doc gripped gently the patient’s shoulder... and their eyes met. Clearing his throat awkwardly, the doctor broke eye contact first.

“Do you huh... need anything?”

_ Might want to stop touching the patient while you’re at it, Doc,  _ he told himself. Good thing the room’s lighting was dim. Last thing he needed was getting odd looks because the guy he saved noticed he was flustered. After some more uncomfortable silence, the patient muttered an answer in a coarse voice.

“...W-Water...”

“Oooh, right away!”

Doc got up, thankful to have an excuse to walk away for a few seconds. Moons, what was wrong with him. It’s a patient. This is not Ramirez. He closed his eyes and shook his head, wanting to just forget it all.

He returned with a cup of water and a straw. The man just glanced to the cup, then to him. Oh right. Putting aside the cup on the bedside desk, Doc slowly helped the man sit up. Trying to keep it distant and professional.

“Urgh!”

The man winced in pain, and grabbed at him in reflex. His arms were now uncomfortably around his neck and Doc felt his face heat up.

“S-Sorry. I should have been more gentle” the doctor said, wanting to mentally slap himself.

The patient breathed heavily.

“...It’s... fine...”

After what appeared to be an eternity, the man finally let go and managed to sit up, using the bed frame as support. Doc carefully handed the cup to him.

“Come on, drink up”

He didn’t want to look at his patient’s face.  Another silence except for the sound of the patient drinking from the straw. Once he was done, Doc put the cup aside, rubbing the side of his head thoughtfully.

“I... believe we have not properly introduced. The name’s Doc. That’s what everyone calls me. What’s your name?”

The patient stared at him with a  skeptical expression.

“I guess you can call me Patient” he replied deadpanned. 

Doc raised an eyebrow.

“Should you really be sassing someone who saved your life?”

The patient winced a bit at this, making Doc feel a bit guilty. Even more so when the man lowered his gaze.

“We all have something we’d rather forget, don’t we?”

Ouch. That one was hitting way too close to home. But that was fair. Anyone could tell he was a noble man, probably of some renown too judging from where they found him, and he could easily dig up his identity if he wanted. Then again, the man obviously had done plenty of things he was not proud of, judging from his attitude and his sleep-talk.

“I... guess that’s fair”

Ramirez had been that secretive too about his past as well. Something told Doc that Ramirez was not even his real name to begin with. He would never know.

“You’re... not going to ask me any questions?” The man shook.

Again, despite himself, Doc placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I won’t force you to tell me anything if you don’t want to. I’m a doctor. I’m here to treat you, free of charge and free of any questionings. Rest easy”

The man didn’t complain or recoil at his touch. He looked at him in the eyes, making Doc freeze once again.

“Thank you Doc”

Again his heart hurt. He could hear  _ his  _ voice over the patient’s. They were nothing alike, Doc reminded himself. Instead of Ramirez’s emerald  gaze ,  he had the stranger’s turquoise  eyes on him. His hair golden blonde instead of silver. Doc found himself staring. The man in front of him had quite the delicate, dare he say effeminate features. Pointy nose, dainty eyebrows, fair skin. The kind of beauty that would make the head turns and the heart flutters from men and women alike. In that sense both he and Ramirez were not so different. 

His gaze wandered to the man’s lips.

Alfonso felt his heartbeat quicken and his face heat up as “Doc” was staring at him. There was something... sad in his expression. As if the man was searching for something. He didn’t let go of Alfonso’s shoulder but somehow he didn’t mind it. For the first time in days he felt safe. He had nearly been in death’s clutches and  though his heart was pounding painfully in his chest, it reminded him that he was alive.

He found the doctor’s face to be incredibly close to his, taking his breath away. He didn’t know who initiated the move but their lips met in a shy touch at first before Doc’s pressed further, deepening the kiss almost desperately. His eyes were clenched shut as his hands cupped his face. Alfonso’s lips parted as the man’s tongue met his and he felt himself returning the kiss. Deep down, he knew it was not meant for him. Doc seemed to look for something, someone, that wasn’t him. When they inevitably broke the kiss to catch their breath, the fantasy would end.

Doc broke the kiss but his eyes remained closed, focusing on catching his breath and trying to savor what remained of his fantasy.

Eventually he opened them and found himself back to reality and having to explain what the hell just happened. The man in front of him smirked.

“Do you kiss all your patients like this, Doc?”

“Do you kiss back all your doctors?”

“Heh... Fair point”


End file.
